A “Curling teacher” in mathematics education: teacher identities and pedagogy development

Abstract

In this article, I outline processes that supported or hindered Elin, a mathematics teacher, to engage in pedagogy development. In a setting inspired by critical mathematics education, Elin was encouraged to bring societal themes into her upper secondary teaching so that mathematics was connected to social science subjects. A classroom environment was set up in which classroom discourses supported students' negotiations about their learning of mathematics. In this new pedagogical discourse, projects were introduced that while addressing the mandated mathematical topics of the curriculum, changed some key elements in how mathematics had been previously taught as well as the relationships between participants. Elin's narrated identities provided ways to understand shifts in Elin's ways of acting when gradually transforming her teaching. Elin's identities illuminated how she became aware of herself, her teaching organisation and her different ways of interacting with students. She identified and acted upon her perceptions of the new possibilities and different responsibilities that actors in mathematics classrooms have. Elin's fluctuating teacher identities reveal why she struggled at times and how she was constrained in becoming the teacher she wanted to become.

Remythologizing Mystery in Mathematics: Teaching for Open Landscapes versus Concealment

“…For this we turn our attention to Annica's conversations with 16-year-old Henrik, a confessed "math disliker," who was in his first year of the social science upper secondary program in Sweden (for more on this conversation, see the work of Andersson [28] and Andersson and Valero [29]). One day, Annica greeted Henrik as he left the classroom looking weary, with drooping shoulders: "What's up, Henrik?"…”

“…[20] We argue that these demands resemble boundlessness and the demands seem contradictory to the idea of concealment. Though the curriculum demands the boundless approach to mystery, practice typically performs concealment; quiet tasks or textbook work with goals to find predetermined answers seems to be the outcome [28,43].…”

An elementary teacher’s narrative identity work at two points in time two decades apart

“…While studies about the changes practicing teachers undergo as a result of their development are numerous (e.g., Andersson, 2011;Gresalfi & Cobb, 2011;Avalos, 2011), to date, studies that relate the current and previous identity work of the same teacher are rare. Such studies, however, may retrospectively inform us about the emphases needed in teacher education contexts that matter in the long run.…”

Mathematics classroom talk in a migrating world : synthesizing epistemological dimensions

“…Above, the students used their own world observations to reason about mathematics in society in contrast to teachers providing students with their world observations for the students to reason about. We argue that critical mathematics education does not only mean that students engage in talks on social issues formulated as mathematical problems or approached mathematically by the help of teachers (see for example, Andersson, 2011;. In addition, we think that critical mathematics education means providing classroom activities where students put to the fore their own world observations and reason about them as a matter of interconnecting them to knowledge on mathematics in action in society.…”

“…Critical mathematical literacy is shaped through "…constructing knowledge of particular concepts, ideas, skills and facts […] to help [students] recognize oppressive aspects of society" (Gutstein, 2006, p. 6). In this line of pedagogical interventions, students often engage in discussing social issues, that their teachers formulated as mathematical problems (see for example Andersson, 2011;. Teachers assist students in translating 'real' world problems into mathematics, which in a sense consists a challenge as argued by .…”